Hello, Lovelies ♥


This year is coming to an end, so I decided to write a blog post in summary of my shopping experiences, haha. This year I will be honest and say I have been quite mental in terms of how much I have been buying Liz Lisa and other brands. So, I have quite a bit of experience now as I have to diligently search and trial a lot of shops since I live in Australia, a giant island in the middle of an ocean. Below I have tried to compile a list of all the way I would recommend buying Liz Lisa, coming from my own experiences. I tried to be succint as I have a tendency to babble, so that way it'll be easy to read the pros and cons that I found.

Hello, lovelies! Long time no see.

This year has gone by so quick and I have barely posted, I am sorry! Firstly, uni and work has taken up most of my time and then I went to Russia for six weeks during the holidays. Busy, busy, busy.

Since I have been working a lot, I have been making Liz Lisa purchases often, I think I might be a little crazy, haha. A lot of them from the site Tokyo Otaku Mode - which I really recommend!

I recently went to a 'Carnival of Flowers' with my best friend, where I mustered up the courage to finally wear a Liz Lisa coordinate - a flowy long sleeved top. a jumper skirt and a cardigan. I bought these all from Tokyo Otaku Mode.

Hello! ♥

I made a post about online stores that stock gyaru-like clothes, and now I am writing another one about something that I have been using to grab onto some cheaper gyaru clothing, and that's forums!

One that I have been using a lot very recently is GYARU Community Sales. It's definitely a different way to shop, but a great way since it seems more real, if that's a way to describe it. You know, since with most sites you rely on just a stock photo of the product and the description of it, but with sites or forums like these, the photos you look at were taken by the seller personally. 

The sellers are quite reliable in my experience since they communicate well and provide photos and tracking. It's also great because a lot of these sellers are westerners, which can give you an idea of the size and measurements of the clothes and whether it would be suitable for you.

I'm not sure if there are many forums out there such as this one, but it does lead me and a lot of other buyers to consider different ways of purchasing clothing.

Have you got any experience with forums? Were they good or bad?

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, everyone!

Since I've been making some recent purchases on different sites of Liz Lisa and other Asian brands, I thought I'd write this post to help and give some tips in judging what kind of size would fit or be appropriate for you. 


A common question my mum asks me when she finds outs that I bought a particular item of clothing online is: "How do you know what size to buy?"At first, I was quite lazy with sizing and went with my gut feeling since I know my upper body fits medium sizes quite well, and normally chose that for tops. But, that's not very reliable. Don't do that :')

Especially remember: Clothing brands from other countries might have very different sizes that what your are familiar with. Especially, ones from Asia, as it tends to be a lot smaller.

Hello, friends! ♥

I know for sure how difficult it is to easily access fashion from other countries, such as gyaru clothing from Japan. Sometimes, we have to compromise and make do with what we have access to. I think there is always a chance of finding clothes that match the style you want. 

Depending on the style of gyaru you are looking for, you can always find items that fit that style and build a collection from which you can pick from and use to layer on top of one another. Starting from basic clothing items, layering, is a good start.

Looking at some photos for inspiration - it's very easy to build a gyaru style from clothes you would find in any store. I find blacks, whites and pinks to be very common. Again, depending on the type of gyaru you are going for, you would be looking for statement pieces that are quite fitting. Or, if you're looking for the more hime or girly gyaru style, you would be incorporating a lot of lace, frills, flouncy fabric and floral patterns.

I think something important that can help sway your fashion style is accessories. As I said before, you can find some basic clothing pieces and then layer more clothing and choose socks, shoes and jewellery to compliment your outfit and make it complete. I mean false lashes, socks and fake nails are also found here, right? Makeup plays a huge part as well.

This post is a bit of a trainwreck, but I'm writing this post just to say that, if you have a set style in your mind and know the clothes you want for it, you can look for it in stores and begin building your dream wardrobe! Good luck!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, everyone~

I'm adding another post to my series! This one will give a few ideas as to what to when you find some Asian clothes are too small or the wrong size for you. I don't know about you, but I always have trouble finding gyaru clothing that is long enough to wear.

I am in every mindset to just go to Japan just to personally buy the clothing myself and know for sure it's my size, but that's not that easy. I hope to find a reliable store that will sell gyaru clothing suitable for a girl of over 170cm in height!

Until then, we have to manage with what we have, right?

Wear several layers!

I found that for some short dresses or skirts, it can still work if you slip on a skirt underneath. By having one of two skirts/shorts of a neutral tone- like white, grey or black (but with most clothing, you might need a pink or white one) it might make it easier to quickly add an extra layer underneath your clothing.
You could even put some leggings, shorts or bloomers underneath as well.


Dress too short? Wear it as a top!

Yup, pretty much. Some of taller girls don't have much that we can do about gyaru clothing being too short for our frames - but we can still use it, yes! 

Almost like wearing layers, you can use the dress as a cute top instead and wear it over a skirt or jeans!

Sew on another layer/alter the length

Now for this, I am hopeless at trying to alter the length of my clothing, I'm pretty sure I would make it worse. But if you can, or know some who can, why not alter the length of your clothing through sewing? If not, then maybe a professional can do it, but that would come with a cost,

What is your experience with buying clothes online? What do you do if it's not your size? Do you know any stores that sell Asian clothing that is a good fit for western girls? Let me know!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hello, everyone! ♥

Today, I will be writing a post, that will most likely end up as several posts, since there is so much to talk about!

The reason I named this series Gaijin Gyaru, is because, I am a Western girl whose style is inspired by Hime-gyaru and Hime-kaji, and trying to achieve this style can be a bit difficult due to availability of clothing, size issues and so on~ And since Gajin Gyaru, or 外人ギャル, means Foreign Girl (or a foreigner who follows the gyaru style) I decided it fit as my title. But this style can be worn by anyone, and I want to help that~



What is Hime-gyaru and Hime-kaji?  Also known as Hime kei. It is one of the more over the top and also one of the most expensive style of dress of all of the categories. The hime style is largely based on the Rococo era. Gyaru of this style wear dresses or skirts in pink or other pastels with lots of lace and bows. Rose patterns, pearls and crown motifs are also very common. Headpieces range from large bow clips with pearls to rose accents, while the hair is either bleached, poofed up in a bouffant at the top and curled or a wig/extensions are worn. The make-up style has even more exaggerated eyes than the typical gyaru. Hime gyaru does not only include clothes, but many girls see it as a way of life and make or buy custom-made decor for their homes. The style blossomed in the early 2000s but has since declined or turned more casual (this version is referred to as hime kajii), even if the old one is still present. Not to be confused with Lolita fashion. (Source: Wikipedia)

The clothes are so pretty ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ

But finding stores that have this clothing can be very hard, when shopping in stores with friends I can barely finding anything, and online stores can be very pricey. I don't even know how long I have spent now, searching, and searching online stores that stock clothing that is easily accessible and affordable. I really regret not asking whether I could visit Liz Lisa while I was in Japan in 2013, oh my lord.

Of course, there is still hope! I have found some stores that may help us achieve what we want, although, they all vary.

Storenvy:

Storenvy is a great place to find secondhand or new clothing at a cheaper price! I have bought bags from there before, which are excellent, and I always see a variet yof clothing on there as well. There have been great priced jfashion items, but they were sold out, so I missed out. So it's good to keep checking regularly!

• Spreepicky is very popular for their cute clothes and accesorries, catering to a lot of harajuku styles, cosplay and even lolita. 

• Kawaii Gyaru Shop specifically stocks authentic Liz Lisa clothing, which I adore to look at, since it's too expensive for me to buy yet (but it's still cheaper than the original price). It's also good that this store has been set up since it allows people to get their hands on Liz Lisa clothing without using a shopping service and so on.

• Kawaii Clothing: This is another cute store that stocks a variety of clothing! I see that with a lot of storenvy stores, the products are quite similar, but it's good to explore to get the best price and size!

eBay:

I have found eBay to be a great place to find new or second-hand clothing at a great cost! Sometimes it can be a bit of a hit and miss since new or authentic clothing can still be pricey, and cheaper ones can be short or of lesser quality, so always review what you buy carefully!


Sheinside:

Although Sheinside doesn't specifically cater to a hime style of any kind since they stock clothing that's really a really western kind of style, if you know what I mean? But there are some pieces that you can use to mix and match to create a style you want. My experiences with them have been great previously, and the items I got are really cute!


Here are a few more stores I might suggest looking into even though I haven't bought from them before, yet:

K-StyleMe.Com/Asian iCandy: I found these as a suggestion to shop at for jfashion/kfashion clothing, and I see why. I haven't shopped from them yet, but the clothes are worth checking it out as well.

Yesstyle: I have seen people buy from this store, for example, Bubzbeauty, and the clothes look so cute! I have seen some unique clothing pieces too, and some of the detailing on some of the tops is really cute! I hope to shop from them soon!

Romwe: I have bookmarked a lot of clothes on this site since some are so pretty! I'm pretty sure that this site is American, maybe, like Sheinside, so the clothes might be more chic than floral or jfashion like~ But it's still worth having a look since some items can be paired well with other clothing items to achieve a nice look!

Lalalilo.com: I very much want to try some of the clothing from this site, it all looks so wonderful! I have bookmarked a few dresses I think are really cute and I hope I can review them when I get them soon!

AliExpress.com: I heard that this was the English version of Taobao so I thought it was worth checking out, and there are some items on there that are of gyaru style! Has anyone shopped from it before?

I hope I will be doing more reviews in the future and hunt down some great purchases to share with you all! Do you guys have any other recommendations of stores that stock nice clothing online or anywhere else? Have you purchased anything from the stores above? How was your experience? Let me know!

Enjoy life!

Nina

Hiya, humans~ 

Today, I want to make a quick post about another bag I recently bought from MissBaci's Second hand shop on Storenvy!

The bag was so cute and and reasonably priced, of course I had to get it! I'm really glad I did, I've been taking this bag with me everywhere.

The quality is amazing, and it came exactly like how it was described. Any faults were outlined straight away (which was just one black dot, no big deal). It came with even longer straps that you can attach, which has made life easier for me! The material is strong and the design of the bag makes it easy to use as well since it has a few side pockets on the inside.

Storenvy is a great site to find new or second-hand items at a lesser price, bags like this would be quite expensive but I didn't pay as much. The tag on the inside of the bag was still there as well, so it was pretty much new. I'm always happy with the purchases I made from this site, although, they have changed the way to pay, so I am not sure how I'll use this site in the future.

Thank you for visiting!

Enjoy life!

Nina